The Muslim Link reported that American Ambassador David Jacobson recently visited the largest mosque in Ottowa. In his opening speech, the envoy outlined a number of programs and partnerships that his embassy had undertaken with Canadian Muslim organizations. These included helping to fund the Family Honour Project of the Muslim Family Resource Centre in London, Ontario and collaborating with the Association of Progressive Muslims on an exchange for young Muslim community leaders to the US.

The Family Honour Project was begun in January of 2012 in partnership with the CeaseFire Project of Chicago, Illinois. This is how they described their plan: ” It is a unique, interdisciplinary, public health approach to violence prevention. This approach maintains that violence is a learned behavior that can be revented. The model prevents violence using a three-prong approach: Identification and detection; Interruption, intervention and risk reduction; and, Changing behavior and norms. CeaseFire is a unique, interdisciplinary, public health approach to violence prevention. This approach maintains that violence is a learned behavior that can be prevented. The model prevents violence using a three-prong approach: Identification and detection; Interruption, intervention and risk reduction; and, Changing behavior and norms. This is a data-driven model that uses a combination of statistical information and knowledge of the community to determine where to concentrate efforts, focus resources, and intervene in violence. The MRCSSI will be working with Mr. Norman Kerr, an advisor for CeaseFire to create a parallel model to address what is referred to as “honour related” domestic violence. The MRCSSI, working with a broad range of partners has already established the relationships and the groundwork necessary to ensure the success of a program modeled after the Chicago experience. The Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women and Children, Faculty of Education, The University of Western Ontario, will be a research partner in this initiative. This project will work towards increasing and enhancing safe space for engaging in a dialogue to build culturally appropriate collaborative strategies to address so called “honour related violence”. This project will start with a focus on the Muslim Community in the London area, but we intend to share our experience with communities across the Province in the near future.” The Muslim Resource Center website is here.

“... This co-operative model is already in place in London, Ont., with last year’s launch of the Family Honour Project by the Muslim Resource Centre for Social Support and Integration (MRCSSI). Research has been conducted into honour-based violence, risk factors have been ascertained, and stakeholders have been brought together from the local community, law enforcement and social service agencies. A pilot program is set to roll out this year. The MRCSSI is co-ordinating its efforts with Chicago’s Cure Violence program, which addresses gang violence based on the paradigm of treating violence as a disease. ... A key preventive component is the role of community leaders in speaking up against honour-based violence and all forms of domestic violence. The MRCSSI has galvanized local imams to broach this topic in sermons and community workshops; it’s also promoting a powerful video against honour killings, co-produced by the Palestinian hip-hop group DAM and UN Women.

This is also happening at the national level. Kingston imam Sikander Hashmi (a former journalist) has taken a prominent role in addressing this issue in Muslim communities across Canada. Muneeb Nasir, president of Toronto’s Olive Tree Foundation, has spearheaded the first White Ribbon campaign in the Muslim community, with hundreds of signatories pledging to stop violence against women.

This project joins numerous other Muslim led projects to deal with all sorts of issues affecting the Muslim community, and to counter extremism and educate the community.

Of course, Pamela Geller is not happy about this! She published a ridiculous article in which she says: “This is not Pakistan or Egypt, this is Canada. So why is the US Ambassador meeting with Muslim Brotherhood groups like CAIR in Canada and pledging American taxpayer dollars to fund Muslim projects there? This is so bizarre. The only more peculiar aspect of it is his commitment to help fund the “Family Honour Project of the Muslim Family Resource Centre.” I am sure it’s not to save Muslim girls from honor killings. It’s to laugh. It’s to cry. Was this the mosque of the jihadis who were recently arrested in the massive terror plot to attack US and Canadian targets—including a bacterial attack aimed at killing 100,000 people? Did the good Ambassador discuss that with this crowd, or was it all just Muslim grievance-mongering and the Newtown shooting?”

Actually, all Geller had to do was a quick google search and she would have found out that this program is to save Muslim girls from honor killings and all forms of domestic violence. The only thing to laugh and cry about is Geller’s incredible level of hatred towards Muslims. But, fact checks and simple searches seem to beyond the capabilities of the Islamophobes.

One of the many Canadian Muslim groups participating in this particular project is CAIR-Canada, and if anyone from any CAIR chapter even walks through a room where an event is happening, that sets the Islamophobes off. American (and Canadian) Muslims are well aware that CAIR national and some chapters have problems that need to be addressed, and openly discuss that issue and possible solutions. CAIR is part of the Muslim community, and Islamophobes need to get over it.

In the article The False Claim that American Muslims have no programs to counter radicalization I noted that: “It is interesting that Islamophobes like Robert Spencer (and his partner in hate, Pamela Geller) attack every effort made by mainstream Muslims to counter extremism. Spencer attacked the “Change This” anti-domestic violence campaign, they attacked the #MyJihad campaign. They attacked a Muslim scholar defending the Constitution of the U.S. They regularly attack interfaith efforts like the Love thy neighbor campaign, Change the Story, etc. There are no Muslim scholars, activists, community leaders, organizations, or interfaith efforts that include Muslims that have not been attacked. See The Islamophobic Attempt to Marginalize American Muslim Civic Participation for lengthy lists (with links to sources) of such attacks. In fact, you don’t even have to be a Muslim or Arab to come under attack by the Islamophobes. Non-Muslims only need to treat Muslims the same as they would any other citizen to be attacked. The constant demonization of Muslims doing anything at all inside of or outside of the Muslim community, or of non-Muslims who accept Muslims as equal citizens and participants in American society extends to just about any situation. ”

Daniel Pipes is encouraging publication of “A Muhammad cartoon a day”, and says “So, this is my plea to all Western editors and producers: Display the Muhammad cartoon daily, until the Islamists become accustomed to the fact that we turn sacred cows into hamburger.”. Pipes joins Daniel Greenfield (aka Sultan Knish) who published an appeal on David Horowitz’ Front Page Magazine Is It Time for ‘Make Your Own Mohammed Movie Month’?. And, both are following in the footsteps of such luminaries as Pamela Geller, who promoted just such a plan back in 2010 with her promotion of Draw Muhammad Day, even after the cartoonist who drew the first cartoon and suggested the idea, Molly Norris apologized to Muslims and asked for the day to be called off, and American Muslims had issued a defense of free speech. None of this is surprising as one of the Islamophobes laid out their strategy as “The Muslims themselves have shown us their most vulnerable spot, which is the questionable (though unquestioned) character of the ‘Prophet’ himself. We need to satirise and ridicule baby-bonking Mo until the Muslims fly into uncontrollable tantrums, then ridicule them even more for their tantrums, and repeat the process until they froth at the mouth and steam comes out of their ears.”

Everyone “knows” that Islam is a monolith and all Muslims are the same, like the “Borg”. This means that every act committed by an individual who is a Muslim is directly attributable to Islam, and never because the individual is crazy, criminal, or perverted.

Everyone “knows” that Muslims are like the Fascists and Nazis and that in fact they supported those movements.

The problem is that what “everyone knows” is wrong. These self-righteous and incorrect statements are usually followed by a demand that the Muslim community do something about whatever is the false flag of the day or face the inevitable consequences.